Easy Salads

Ask any expert. When children are encouraged to cook and be creative, they are more likely to eat a wider range of food.

One way to get them to eat more vegetables is to provide them with child-friendly recipes and to keep nutritious frozen vegetables handy for creative cooking.

Why frozen vegetables? Frozen vegetables can be more nutritious than raw ones, which can take days to get to the supermarket. Freezing vegetables locks in nutrients in a just-picked state. That also means more flavor.

They're also easier for small hands to deal with, minimizing preparation and cooking time. Frozen vegetables have already been trimmed and cleaned before freezing. They don't require as much cooking as raw counterparts.

Low in sodium and high in fiber, frozen vegetables contain no additives, preservatives or coloring. An economical choice, they are available year-round and can easily be used in microwaves.

Though you don't have to add anything to frozen vegetables, children might enjoy adding a special dash of style and taste.

Tangy Garden Vegetable Salad

This flavorful salad can be used as a side dish but could easily take center stage with the addition of one and a half cups of cooked chopped chicken.

1 10-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Put frozen vegetables, water and ginger in a saucepan on the burner, turn the burner to medium high and cook until bubbly.

In a bowl, combine the orange juice and the cornstarch. Mix it up.

Stir the juice mixture into the veggies. Cook and stir for two minutes. The mixture should be nice and thick.

Turn off the burner, remove the saucepan from the stove. Serve with chow mein noodles for a crunchy touch. 4 servings